Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Trade Unions

Lord Balfe: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply byLord Callanan on 19 December (HL Deb col 947) in which he said that "75 per cent of workers in this country are not in trade unions", what assessment they have made of whether there is a link between (1) levels of union membership, and (2) levels of workforce care and HR practices, in the private sector versus the public sector.

Lord Callanan: Statistics on trade union membership, including proportion of public and private sector employees who belong to a union are published on Gov.uk. Trade unions can have a constructive role to play in representing their members’ interests. Strikes, however, should always be a last resort given the impact that they have on the public and we would always encourage unions to exhaust all other avenues to resolve disputes before taking this step.

Aviation

Lord Hay of Ballyore: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current support available for the aviation sector and its supply chain.

Lord Callanan: Through the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme, industry and Government are co-investing in the development of cutting-edge aircraft technology to grow UK’s share of the global aerospace market. The 2021 Spending Review increased government’s commitment to aerospace R&D by 50% to £685 million across the Spending Review Period, extending the programme to 2031. By 2025, government and industry will invest almost £4 billion in developing new ultra-efficient and zero emission aircraft technologies. We have supported industry investment in supply chain competitiveness through our ‘Sharing in Growth’, SC21 Competitiveness & Growth, and NATEP programmes, which have benefited from over £140m public funding, leveraging additional private investment.

Energy Bills Rebate: Northern Ireland

Lord Hay of Ballyore: To ask His Majesty's Government what date those entitled to support under the Northern Ireland Energy Support Scheme will receive payment.

Lord Callanan: On 19 December 2022 the Government announced that all households in Northern Ireland will receive support with their energy bills this winter through a single payment of £600. This is made up of £400 of the Energy Bills Support Scheme and £200 of the Alternative Fuel Payment. This will be delivered through electricity suppliers, with payments starting in January.

Climate Change

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Callanan on 16 December (HL3971), what assessment they have made of the cost to the UK of following the advice of (1) the IPCC, and (2) the World Climate Declaration; and over what period of time they will take advice from both organisations.

Lord Callanan: The IPCC assesses the latest and most policy-relevant climate science, but does not make specific policy recommendations or directly advise governments. The IPCC's assessments are used on an ongoing basis to inform government decision making, including the UK Net Zero Strategy. The Government has not made an assessment of the World Climate Declaration.

Incontinence and Sanitary Protection: Medical Equipment

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they intend to makeofthe safety of menstrual and adult continence products, particularly with regard to skin sensitising and hormonal effects; and what plans they have to regulatetampons as medical devices.

Lord Callanan: The UK has a comprehensive regulatory framework that covers the safety of menstrual and adult continence products. This requires producers and distributors to ensure their products are safe before they are placed on the market.The safety of these products is regulated by the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 in addition to other product specific laws. Manufacturers are required to ensure a product does not present any risk or only the minimum risks compatible with the product’s use.There are no current plans to regulate tampons as medical devices.

Renewable Energy: Seas and Oceans

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to remove barriers experienced by offshore oil and gas workers when seeking to transition to green jobs in the offshore energy sector.

Lord Callanan: In March 2022, a tripartite agreement was reached between the bodies which oversee offshore wind training and qualifications – OPITO, the Global Wind Organisation, and the International Contractors Association – to align training standards to enable workforce mobility.As part of the commitments in the North Sea Transition Deal, OPITO published an Integrated People and Skills Strategy in May 2022, highlighting the benefits of a managed energy transition and committed to create an aligned training and standards framework (Energy Skills Passport), which will enable skills transfer across the offshore energy sector. This is expected to be deployed in 2023.

Department of Health and Social Care

Streptococcus: Screening

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the medical efficacy and value to users of commercial Strep A tests, and (2) any extra costs that might result for the NHS as a result of such tests.

Lord Markham: Rapid tests for Group A Streptococcus (Strep A) are not currently recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for individuals aged five years old and over presenting with a sore throat. However, in response to the ongoing national increased incidence of Strep A infection, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) are concurrently reviewing the literature on clinical scoring tools and rapid tests for Strep A infection in people presenting with a sore throat. UKHSA have commissioned a desktop to bedside review of existing antigen-based lateral flow devices for Strep A infection, adopting a tried and tested process that was developed for coronavirus testing device approvals. This process will identify the tests that are most likely to perform well in the diagnosis of sore throats caused by Strep A in community settings. No specific assessment of the extra costs to the National Health Service associated with commercial tests have been made.

Department for Education

Teachers: Labour Turnover and Recruitment

Baroness Chapman of Darlington: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the (1) recruitment, and (2) retention, of teachers.

Baroness Barran: The number of teachers remains high, with over 465,500 working in state-funded schools across the country at Full Time Equivalent (FTE). This is 24,000 more than in 2010.The department recognises there is more to do to ensure teaching remains an attractive, high status profession, and to recruit and retain teachers in key subjects and areas. Reforms are aimed at increasing teacher recruitment through an attractive pay offer and financial incentives such as bursaries, as well as at ensuring teachers stay and succeed in the profession.The department remains committed to delivering starting salaries of £30,000 to attract and retain the best teachers.The department is investing £181 million in financial incentives. For those starting initial teacher training (ITT) in the 2023/24 academic year, bursaries worth up to £27,000 and scholarships worth up to £29,000 are offered to encourage talented trainees to apply to train in key secondary subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing. This offer has also been expanded to international trainees in physics and languages.The department offers a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 annually for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers working in disadvantaged schools in the first five years of their careers.In autumn 2021, the new digital service, ‘Apply for teacher training’ was launched. This provides a more streamlined, user-friendly application route, to make it easier for people to train to become teachers.The department is also taking action to enable teachers to succeed by transforming their training and support. 500,000 teacher training and development opportunities will be delivered by the end of 2024, giving all teachers and head teachers access to world class, evidence based training and professional development at every stage of their career.To support retention in the first few years of teaching, the department has rolled out the Early Career Framework (ECF) nationally, providing the foundations for a successful career in teaching, with over £130 million a year in funding.Additionally, the department has published a range of resources to help address teacher workload and wellbeing, including the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, which schools are being encouraged to sign up to as a shared commitment to promote staff wellbeing. The charter can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter. Additionally, the workload reduction toolkit has been developed alongside head teachers and has been published here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workload-reduction-toolkit. Several other resources have also been published to support schools to implement effective flexible working practices, and these can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/flexible-working-resources-for-teachers-and-schools.

Special Educational Needs: Finance

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total (1) budget, and (2) spend, on pupils with Special Educational Needs in England for each of the last five years.

Baroness Barran: The department does not identify a budget for the total education spending on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). It is not a specific category of spending that is recorded by the department, or by local authorities, schools, colleges, and other education providers.The department allocates funding for SEND provision in various ways, with the most significant amounts being channelled through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) to local authorities. Within the DSG, the department allocates high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND, along with those who need support outside a mainstream school in alternative provision. The table below sets out the DSG high needs funding block allocations from 2018/19 to 2022/23. The DSG amounts for 2022/23 and 2023/24 remain provisional until final adjustments and payments have been made. Financial yearDSG high needs block allocations (£ million)2018/19£6,1152019/20£6,2792020/21£7,0632021/22£7,9062022/23£8,9882023/24£9,953 The totals in the table above do not include other streams of funding that schools, colleges, local authorities, and other providers use to support children and young people with SEND. In particular, it does not take account of support that mainstream schools provide to those with SEND drawn from their own core budgets, where funding is provided through another element of the DSG.Schools are not required to identify their spending on SEND provision separately from other spending. Local authorities report their spending from their high needs budgets, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/section-251-materials.

Schools: Energy

Baroness Chapman of Darlington: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the rise in energy bills on ventilation in classrooms over the winter.

Baroness Barran: The department has not made an assessment of the impact of the rise in energy bills on ventilation in classrooms over the winter. Maintaining adequate ventilation remains the responsibility of individual schools.In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government provided over 386,000 CO2 monitors to schools, colleges, and early years settings to help manage ventilation. As well as helping settings to identify areas that are poorly ventilated, CO2 monitors can be useful in helping balance good ventilation with keeping classrooms warm.In December 2022, the department published guidance on energy efficiency for schools and colleges, including guidance on managing ventilation, which can be found attached and at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-efficiency-guidance-for-the-school-and-fe-college-estate.In addition, eligible schools and sixth-form colleges will receive an allocation of £447 million of capital funding to improve energy efficiency in 2022/2023. This is part of an additional £500 million of capital funding for schools and further education institutions in England.HL4435_guidance (pdf, 232.4KB)

Physics: Teachers

Baroness Chapman of Darlington: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Initial teacher training: trainee number census 2022 to 2023;and in particular, the finding that the recruitment target for physics has been missed by more than 80 per cent.

Baroness Barran: 23,224 postgraduate trainees have been recruited for 2022/23, which is a 20% decrease from 30,093 in 2021/22. This is 71% of the Postgraduate Initial Teacher Training (PGITT) target, down from 97% in 2021/22. Teacher recruitment has been challenging for several years, driven by increasing demand for teachers in particular phases and subjects, and a competitive graduate labour market. As expected, the unprecedented increase in new entrants to ITT because of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020/21 has declined over the past 2 years. The graduate and general labour markets became more competitive and pay has risen in competing sectors, especially in priority Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects. Some STEM subjects face more recruitment challenges than others and this is reflected in their performance against the PGITT targets. For example, physics achieved 17% of the PGITT target in 2022/23. Mathematics and biology achieved 85% and 111% respectively in 2022/23. The department launched a pilot initial teacher training course in spring 2022 called ‘Engineers Teach Physics’. Following the first year pilot for ‘Engineers Teach Physics’, it has been expanded to a second year with a national rollout. The department is continuing to work closely with sector experts, representative bodies and academic institutions to ensure that the course reflects best practice and includes the most up-to-date industry knowledge. This expansion will ensure that this programme will be available to more trainees across the country, further ameliorating the shortfall in physics teachers. The department has also announced funding for physics for those training in 2023/24. A £27,000 tax-free bursary or £29,000 tax-free scholarship in chemistry, computing, mathematics, and physics reflects the priority the department places on training teachers to teach STEM subjects. Additionally, the department is offering a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 tax-free for mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools, including in Education Investment Areas. This will support the recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most. The department is also extending eligibility of the physics bursary to all non-UK trainees. The manifesto commitment to raise the starting salary for teachers to £30,000 remains as important as ever.

Special Educational Needs

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) number, and (2) percentage, of (a) nursery, (b) primary, and (c) secondary, school pupils in England have a Statement of Special Educational Needs.

Baroness Barran: Data is collected in the school census on the number of pupils with an education, health and care (EHC) plan, which replaced statements of special educational needs. Figures are published in the Special Educational Needs (SEN) in England statistical release, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england.In January 2022, there were:535 state-funded nursery pupils (1.4%) in England with an EHC plan105,756 state-funded primary school pupils (2.3%) in England with an EHC plan76,838 state-funded secondary school pupils (2.2%) in England with an EHC plan

Pre-school Education: Migrants

The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask His Majesty's Government how many children subject to no recourse to public funds (NRPF) conditions in receipt of 15 hours a week of free early education are British citizens.

Baroness Barran: Following a consultation in May 2022, the department extended eligibility for the 15-hour early education entitlement for disadvantaged two-year-olds to children in no recourse to public fund (NRPF) households in September 2022.The department does not hold data on the number of children that are British children with NRPF that are currently in receipt of the two-year old early education entitlement.

Vocational Education: Assessments

Baroness Chapman of Darlington: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to investigate delays to vocational and technical exam and assessment results in 2022.

Baroness Barran: This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Dr Jo Saxton, to write to the noble Lady and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Educational Institutions: Energy

Baroness Chapman of Darlington: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of rising energy costs on college budgets.

Baroness Barran: The department knows that alongside pay and inflationary pressures, one of the biggest challenges facing some colleges is the rising cost of energy. We are keeping under review the potential impacts of the rising cost of energy on providers across the department’s remit.Colleges are autonomous institutions responsible for their own financial sustainability and are taking actions to respond to inflationary pressures, for example through reducing energy consumption.The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has outlined the range of support on energy cost increases that will be available for businesses, the public sector and households. As part of that, the Energy Bill Relief Scheme will provide a price reduction to ensure that all businesses and other non-domestic customers, including colleges, are protected from excessively high energy bills over this winter. Discounts will be applied to energy usage initially between 1 October 2022 and 31 March 2023.Schools and colleges in England will also be allocated a share of £500 million in capital funding in the 2022/23 financial year (this comprises £447 million for schools and sixth form colleges and £53 million for further education colleges) to spend on energy efficiency upgrades.This will not only help schools and colleges save money, but it will also make them more energy efficient during the cold period and increase winter resilience for future years. A further education college group will receive £290,000 on average from that additional funding. Allocations were published on 6 December 2022 to help colleges plan and payments are expected to be made in January 2023.The department is investing £3.8 billion more in further education and skills over the Parliament as a whole to ensure people can access high-quality training and education that leads to good jobs, addresses skills gaps, boosts productivity and supports levelling up. This will support the sector to reform and deliver the technical, skilled education that employers want and our economy needs.As set out in the department publication, ‘College oversight: support and intervention’, we assess and review colleges’ financial health on a regular basis and use this information to determine where support and intervention from the department, Education and Skills Funding Agency and Further Education Commissioner can help colleges to improve their position. The publication is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/college-oversight-support-and-intervention.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Slurry Infrastructure Grant

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government howmuch funding is available to eligible farmers from the Slurry Infrastructure Grant; and what support they are providing to assist applicants with that process.

Lord Benyon: The Slurry Infrastructure grant will support farmers to invest in eligible slurry stores, slurry store covers and supporting equipment with grants ranging between £25,000 and £250,000. My department has published full guidance on GOV.UK, which explains what the grant offers, the scheme rules and how to apply and provides advice for planning storage. On 7 December 2022 my officials hosted a webinar to help farmers apply and to answer questions. Farmers can contact the RPA via telephone or email for further advice at 03000 200 301 and FTF@rpa.gov.uk. Further support will be provided to farmers invited to submit a full application.

Home Office

Immigration: Fees and Charges

Lord Rosser: To ask His Majesty's Government what was the annual surplus received from immigration application fees in (1) 2019,(2) 2020, and (3) 2021, after deducting administration costs.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: The Home Office does not publish the information sought to the level of granularity required. Information on revenue or costs relating to citizenship applications is not published, nor is any surplus derived from citizenship applications routinely calculated or published.The Home Office does report information on overall visa and immigration income in the Annual Report and Accounts.

British Nationality: Fees and Charges

Lord Rosser: To ask His Majesty's Government what was the annual surplus received from citizenship applications in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, and (3) 2021, after deducting administration costs.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: The Home Office does not publish the information sought to the level of granularity required. Information on revenue or costs relating to citizenship applications is not published, nor is any surplus derived from citizenship applications routinely calculated or published.The Home Office does report information on overall visa and immigration income in the Annual Report and Accounts.

Passports: Fees and Charges

Lord Rosser: To ask His Majesty's Government how much passport fee income has been received each month since January 2021; and how this income has been spent.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: Passport fees are set in line with HM Treasury guidance Managing Public Money to only recover the costs associated with British passport services as provided by for the Immigration Act 2016. This includes costs relating to the processing of passport applications, overseas consular protection, and for processing British nationals at UK borders.The table below provides a monthly breakdown of the income received from January 2021.MonthIncomeJan-21£29,780,000Feb-21£21,580,000Mar-21£33,980,000Apr-21£28,510,000May-21£29.580,000Jun-21£36,930,000Jul-21£25,350,000Aug-21£28,810,000Sep-21£37,480,000Oct-21£38,320,000Nov-21£44,580,000Dec-21£36,670,000Jan-22£33,280,000Feb-22£56,480,000Mar-22£74,320,000Apr-22£76,130,000May-22£74,740,000Jun-22£69,690,000Jul-22£53,660,000Aug-22£52,140,000Sep-22£46,600,000Oct-22£43,140,000Nov-22£40,100,000

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Population: Birmingham

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the recent publication of the 2021 Census, whether they have made any forecast of when they estimate that the local authority population of Birmingham will be majority Muslim.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: His Majesty's Government does not produce religion-based population projections / forecasts.

Northern Ireland Office

Special Educational Needs: Northern Ireland

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Secretary of State on 24 November (HCWS385)on finances for theNorthern Ireland departments for 2022–23 and the budget outlook for 2023–24, what assessment they have made of the budgetary resource pressures for Special Needs Education within these overall budgets.

Lord Caine: The budget set out in the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland’s Written Statement to Parliament on 24 November is an appropriate settlement that prioritises spending in education and gives the Northern Ireland Department of Education a total allocation of £2.64 billion. This is an increase of £286 million above 2021-22 spending (after excluding accounting for one-off COVID support in 2021-22). The Northern Ireland Department of Education will now be required to manage its allocated funding in order to live within this budget total. This includes managing funding provision for areas such as Special Educational Needs. The Secretary of State will shortly legislate for the budget in a Budget Bill. This does not, however, remove the pressing need to have locally accountable political leaders in place to take the fundamental decisions which will secure a more sustainable future for the people of Northern Ireland.

Treasury

Public Expenditure: EU Countries

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers byBaroness Penn on 25 November (HL3505) and 14 December (HL3949),whether they will now provide a figure in their answer of how much money the UK has paid the EU since its departure; for what purposes that money was paid; how much they expect to pay in the future; and when that money will be paid.

Baroness Penn: All details of how much money the UK has paid the EU since departure, its purposes, forecasts of future payments and timings are set out in the annual publication of the European Union Finances Statement (EUFS). The most recent EUFS is for 2021 and is available on gov.uk. The financial settlement under the European Union Withdrawal Agreement Act 2020 (WA) represents the negotiated agreement over the UK’s historical financial commitments to the EU and those of the European Union (EU) to the UK. This financial arrangement is related to the UK’s past obligations as a departing Member State and does not relate to any future arrangements. As set out in EUFS 2021, the net UK payments under the WA were c.£11bn (€13.4bn) from the UK’s departure on 31st January 2020 to the 31 December 2021. From 31 December 2021 the UK has been further invoiced in April and September 2022; from these the gross contributions between January 2022 and May 2023 are c.£12.7bn. This amount does not include UK receipts. HMG will publish the EUFS 2022 in the coming months that will provide a definitive net figure up to 31 December 2022.

Northern Ireland Protocol

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the current monthly cost of the operation of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland in respect of (1) the Trader Support Service, (2) any costs to businesses, and (3) any related areas.

Baroness Penn: The estimated monthly cost of running the Trader Support Service in 2023 is £9.4 million.  The Government recognises that the Protocol is causing practical problems for traders. The Government is engaging in constructive dialogue with the European Union, and also brought forward the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill aimed at fixing those problems.

Northern Ireland Protocol

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have madeof the total annual cost of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland if it isfully implemented in its current form on (1) the Trader Support Service, (2) businesses, and (3) any related areas.

Baroness Penn: The estimated annual cost of running the Trader Support Service in 2023 is £113 million. The Government recognises that the Protocol is causing practical problems for traders. The Government is engaging in constructive dialogue with the European Union, and also brought forward the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill aimed at fixing those problems.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Lord Monks: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the furlough scheme on (1) relationships between employers and employees, and (2) the number of older people leaving the workforce; and in any such assessment, what links they have found between these factors.

Baroness Penn: The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme protected millions of UK jobs at a time of unprecedented economic uncertainty. His Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) jointly published an interim evaluation in September 2022, looking at the scheme between March and October 2020. A final evaluation, covering the full duration of the scheme and a Value for Money assessment, will be published in 2023.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Growing Places Fund

Lord Kamall: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness and impact of their Growing Place-based Giving Programme.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: The Growing Place-based Giving Programme supported the creation of six place-based giving schemes as a means of stimulating local philanthropy and increasing investment in local communities in England. Each giving scheme received £100,000 of seed funding and development support from a specialist organisation. The schemes began work in 2019 bringing together local residents, philanthropists, corporate donors, and public sector and civil society organisations, and raising money to address local priorities.The programme report, published in 2020, found that all six place-based giving schemes were in a position to be sustainable at the end of the programme. Based on the schemes’ initial work, the report also stresses that place-based giving can be a mechanism for fostering community cohesion and spirit, civic engagement, and meeting local needs.The COVID-19 pandemic affected the schemes’ development in 2020, but the report found that place-based giving can be an effective means of responding to crises. All six schemes were able to pivot their work to support local communities. For instance, Barking and Dagenham Giving developed a £100,000 Rapid Response Fund, while Totally Stoked created a hub for the local authority which co-ordinated resources and supported people who were shielding. The report found that this was only possible because of the work done during the Growing Place-based Giving programme.